Chapter V: Commercial leases.

Disputes relating to the fixing of the price of the revised or renewed lease are brought, regardless of the amount of the rent, before the president of the judicial court or the judge who replaces him. A decision shall be taken on the basis of a brief. Other disputes are brought before the judicial court which may, incidentally, rule on the claims mentioned in the previous paragraph. The court with…

Briefs shall state the address of the property leased and: 1° For natural persons, their surname, first names, profession, domicile, nationality, date and place of birth; 2° For legal entities, their name and registered office, as well as the title and surname of their legal representative.

Briefs shall contain: 1° A copy of the application for price fixing made, as the case may be, pursuant to Article L. 145-11 or pursuant to article R. 145-20; 2° Indication of other claims; 3° Explanations of law and fact capable of justifying the claims of their author or refuting those of the other party. Submissions in reply or those drawn up after the taking of evidence may include only…

The pleadings shall be signed by the parties’ lawyers. Copies of documents that the parties consider should be attached thereto shall be certified as true copies of the original by the person signing the pleading. The parties shall notify each other of the pleadings by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. Notification is validly made by the tenant to the building manager.

The judge may not, on pain of inadmissibility, be seised before the expiry of a period of one month following receipt by the addressee of the first written pleading. The earliest party submits its pleading to the court registry for the purpose of setting the date of the hearing. It shall attach the documents on which it bases its request and a plan of the premises. It shall also attach…

For the remainder, the procedure shall be as set out in the articles 840 to 844 of the Code of Civil Procedure in relation to fixed-date proceedings. However, the summons does not have to reproduce or contain information that has already been brought to the defendant’s attention.

The parties are required to constitute a lawyer. They and their counsel may only develop orally, at the hearing, the pleas and conclusions of their briefs.

If the judge considers that he has insufficient information on points that can be clarified by a visit to the premises or if it appears to him that the parties’ claims differ on such points, he shall visit the premises on the day and at the time decided by him, if necessary in the presence of a consultant. However, if he considers that purely material observations are sufficient, he may…